In response to a recent report by US intelligence agencies saying that Iran offered bounties to Taliban fighters to target American and coalition troops in Afghanistan, the Afghan government on Tuesday warned Afghanistan’s neighboring and regional countries against using the Taliban as a proxy in Afghanistan.
Sediq Sediqqi, a spokesman for Afghan President Ashraf Ghani said that the regional countries should not support the Taliban.
However, the Iranian embassy in Kabul has rejected the report, saying Iran doesn’t want its differences with the US to be brought inside Afghanistan.
“The Taliban is also accused of having support from other groups and networks, one of the important items of the peace process and the demand of the international community is that the Taliban are no longer used as a proxy group and no country in the region should support the Taliban,” said Sediqqi.
The Iranian embassy in Kabul has said that the US by levelling such allegations is trying to justify its failure in the peace process with the Taliban.
“The Islamic Republic of Iran, as it has repeatedly said before, does not intend to settle its disputes with the United States in Afghanistan. Also, the political and security contacts between Iran and the Taliban are not secret. As Iran has informed the Afghan authorities, Iran will take all necessary steps to help restore lasting peace in its neighboring country and towards promoting intra-Afghan talks. Allegations by the US is a continuation of the fake claims which will not make any obstruction towards this path,” the Iranian embassy said in a statement.
“Regional countries are partly involved in this,” said Mohammad Amin Weqad, a member of the High Peace Council.
“This can harm the peace if Iran is threatened from the Afghan soil, all these issues can pose serious harm in the future of Afghanistan and the Afghan peace process,” said Humayoun Humayoun, a former MP.
According to a recent report by CNN, the US intelligence agencies assessed that Iran offered bounties to Taliban fighters to target American and coalition troops in Afghanistan, identifying payments linked to at least six attacks carried out by the militant group just last year alone, including a suicide bombing at a US air base in December.
In late June, United States intelligence announced that it had found evidence that a Russian unit offered bounties to Taliban-linked militants to US-led coalition troops in Afghanistan, The New York Times reported.
The report said that the alleged bounties gave incentives to the insurgents to target US forces. This comes amid efforts by US President Donald Trump to withdraw its forces from Afghanistan.
